Shadows of Mind and Body
by SomniumofLight
Summary: The magicians deal not in the shadows of the physical world, but in the shadows of the human psyche. Hidden even from the eyes of the five Kage, they live unnoticed by ninja and civilians alike - until a member of the Magician's Court finds a wounded soul in Konohagakure and decides to hang around to help. (Rated T for eventual Naruto violence. Rating might change.)
1. Prologue

**Oh, look, it's yet another self-indulgent fanfiction!**

 **So, yeah, I recently started re-watching Naruto, and because I am total trash for a good crossover, I started browsing the Naruto crossovers - and noticed that though many were entertaining ideas, none of them were _quite_ what I wanted.**

 **So I brainstormed, with help from my little sister (thank you for your encouragement sis, even if you liked my other fanfic idea better!) and came up with this.**

 **Don't worry, I'm still working on Magicae est Potestas, I am NOT abandoning it for this fic! I just figured that while I was coming up with the plot for the next arc (I only planned so far as the most recent chapter), this would be a good plot bunny to hold you guys over.**

 **Warning: Because of events in this story, it will be _very_ AU, with some characters going through different kinds of development and certain events playing out differently than in canon. I'll try to keep things _realistically_ different from canon, though, and not turn this into a crack fic. ^^**

* * *

 _Twelve years ago, a great fox spirit with nine tails tormented the lands. And he was so powerful that whenever his tails thrashed, the ground would shake and tsunamis would crash against the shores. The suffering people gathered the great shinobi clans to fight this menace, and at the end of this battle, one brave ninja was able to seal the demon away within the body of a child._

 _But this is not that ninja's story, nor is it the story of the unfortunate child who had the fox sealed within him. No, this story begins 15 years before that fateful day… with, as many stories do, a child._

In the darkened interior of a shabby, dilapidated building, a figure, covered head-to-toe in dark clothing, sat hunched over, cradling something in his hands.

 _In a tiny village on the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers, there lived a poor family – a man, a woman, and their newborn. They were a modest, humble, and above all else, normal couple, and their baby much adored by themselves and by the village._

The tiny something moved, wriggling in the man's grip, as he carefully set it down on the floor, before standing and taking a step back, putting distance between him and it.

 _But even in such an overlooked home, with such a mundane family, the young can become a target. Not just by bandits or thieves, or even ninja, but by… others. Others who would exploit the helpless in order to further their own power._

Behind the man's makeshift mask, his eyes closed, and, with a flicker and a flash of sickly golden light, an eye spiraled into existence on his forehead.

 _One night, a traveler came to the town. Polite and dressed in modest clothing, with a pack slung over his back. The villagers welcomed him with open arms, housed him, and treated his wounds. And he repaid them by sneaking into the couple's home and stealing away with their precious child._

A beat. Two. And then the night's stillness was broken by another yellow light, the same eye glowing upon the brow of the tiny child on the floor. The baby let out a wail of discomfort, whining, eyes squeezed shut, hands pawing at the air. Shadows – deep, purple masses that seemed not so much shadow but blotches of dark purple light – crept across the floorboards, expanding outwards from the man's still form.

 _The traveler, a man of not nearly so kind a disposition as he seemed, was a magician, a being who controlled the light and shadows of the human soul. And to him, the soul of this child was nothing more than a tool, a means to an end._

The shifting violet tendrils reached out, throwing the baby into deep shadow, and, just as the infant's wails began to peter off into quiet whimpers, pounced and tore into the delicate mind behind the golden eye.

 _Intending to take the soul of the infant, to use it in a corrupted bid to further his own power, the magician reached out with the shadows of the beyond._

 _But that night, something went wrong._

There was a wrenching, a twisting of reality, and a scream. The man flinched, eyes flying open in shock, as the baby writhed and cried, flailing desperately at the darkness latched onto it, and the man watched, frozen and unable to comprehend, as the tiny light he intended to take did not extinguish, but, with a horrible tearing sound…

 _As a magician, one has power over a human soul – but the shadows they draw upon are fickle things, always changing sides._

… tore itself in two.

 _And when forced to choose between a mediocre man attempting to play God and an innocent child…_

The two halves boiled, writhed, even as the baby screamed and screamed, and then the shadows were turning back to their caster, and one-half reached out one tiny thread of awareness, and pushed –

 _… the shadows will always choose those who they deem worthy._

In the morning, the baby's hungry, terrified cries reached the ears of two concerned parents, and in desperation, they broke down the door. Splinters flew, barely missing the baby, and the door was wrenched aside before it fell, and the light that poured through the doorway fell upon the two figures – the baby, reasonably healthy and with only a single dim, unseen half of light swirling inside it.

And the thief lying empty on the ground, nothing save a hollow husk of his former self.

Years later, the infant – now a child with strange, tri-colored hair – would wake up dreaming of the man's dead, dead eyes, and a dark figure, his own disembodied shadow, would be standing beside his bed, with one hand outstretched, waiting for him to take it.

And take it he would.


	2. Chapter 1

_-By Proclamation of the Magician's Court-_

 _No magician shall willingly use their magic to torture, injure, or steal an innocent's soul._

 _No magician shall willingly use their magic to shatter any soul, innocent or otherwise, without permission from the Court._

 _A magician may only tamper with another soul if there is no other choice._

 _No magician shall tamper with a soul less than eight years of age._

 _Those who fail to comply with these commandments will be apprehended, judged, and fed to the Shadows._

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, shadows were not mere spots of darkness.

Oh, if one were to look at a shadow, that would no doubt be all they would see – a patch of dim shade, not quite pure black and nowhere near as bright as full light, laid across the surface of the world. Even shinobi, those who lived, worked, and observed from the shadows every day of their lives, would see only that – a shadow.

But that was because they were looking in all the wrong places.

These shadows moved. There were no animals, objects, or people casting them – they simply pulsed in the air, twining in great smoky tendrils around one another until their movement wove them into a wall of black and violet that dispelled all senses but sight and sound.

The dense fog was parted by a waving hand, a hand formed with veins of a very pale, almost white, twilight grey.

"Is everyone here?"

The voice echoed in this strange space, but it was recognizably human, despite the alien surroundings.

The owner of the waving hand waited as, one by one, other figures, some veined with the same bright twilight as himself, others with black or grey or violet, materialized out of the mist.

"Sure thing, Yuugi!" One figure – medium height, outlined by strings of almost-white, with a head of shaggy hair barely visible in their abstract surroundings – called. He shifted his weight from foot to foot experimentally. "Man, I'm never gonna get used to talking like this…"

"Get used to it quick, Jou. You're a part of the Court now, we can't be kept waiting for you, even if time's a little wacked here."

"Hey, I resent that! I'm on time!"

"This time."

"What was that, Kaiba?!"

The first figure – the one addressed as Yuugi – sighed as the by-now traditional and mostly one-sided argument began. Ignoring the rising voices, he instead turned to the other four arrivals, checking each of them for the distinctive shades of the auras. One, in the vague shape of a man in a turban and cloak, nodded to him respectfully as his gaze passed over them.

"Well," he raised his voice so it could be heard over the other voices, "everyone's here. Jou, Seto, would you mind leaving your spats for later?"

Grumbles of assent from both men.

"Good. In that case, I officially call order to the Magician's Court!" He clapped his hands together, the harsh sound ringing in the otherwise dead silence.

When he was sure everyone was paying attention, Yuugi continued professionally, "Now, how have things been going on your end? Has anyone ran into any trouble since last time?"

"The shinobi of the Land of Lightning have been particularly active lately," one figure – shorter, veins dark as coal – said, in a tone of voice that suggested he was scowling. "Someone got the bright idea to hire a couple of the weaker ones to assassinate me. I sent them to the Shadows a week ago."

Several voices groaned, one, a woman's, softly scolding the man for his behavior.

"Marik, you can't just set the Shadows on anyone."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fully aware of that, thank you. I made sure to give them a chance to back down."

Shaking his head, Yuugi turned his attention to the tallest figure, who took a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Nothing amiss on my end, apart from the mutt apparently having been hired by my company without my knowing."

"Hey!"

"Anyone else?"

The other five shook their heads, murmuring.

"In that case," Yuugi crossed his arms. "On to the real reason I called the meeting early." He took a deep breath.

"I'm going to scout out Konoha, to see if I can find any budding mages there."

" _What?!_ "

"Are you nuts?!"

"That has to be the third stupidest thing you've ever suggested."

He raised both hands quickly. "Whoa, calm down! It's not _that_ big of a deal!"

" _Not that big of a_ – Yuug, you know what'll happen if 'ya get found out!"

The young man sighed. "I do know, which is why it's only me and Yami going. I can pull off the 'harmless civilian look' pretty well."

Mutters of dissent.

"Look, I never said I would be staying there for long," he added. "It's not like I'll be moving in. Besides, it's unlikely that I'll actually find anyone, especially with all that ambient chakra hanging around. You guys all know what happens with magic and chakra in the same place."

They did. In an environment where chakra usage was great, magic had next to no foothold, and mages were even rarer than in the rest of the world – a one-in-a-million chance versus the normal one-in-several-thousand chance. In other words, more or less impossible.

"I don't like it," the other woman in the circle sneered. "If the odds are that low, why risk yourself at all?"

There was a derisive snort from the tallest figure. "There's no point in wondering. It's Yuugi."

Some muffled, anxious laughter, and some sighs.

"Besides," the man continued blithely, "there's no point in trying to convince him not to do his little scouting mission, because he's probably already in Konoha."

Some cries of disapproval, alarm, and the other figures turned towards Yuugi, who could do nothing else but grin cheekily at them.

"Well, now that that's been cleared up –" he began cheerfully.

"Yuugi-!"

"– I think it's about time –"

"Yuug, don't you dare –"

"- that I get on with what I mean to do! Meeting adjourned!"

And with a snap of his fingers and a vaguely disembodied chuckle that didn't quite sound like his, Yuugi Muto disappeared from the strange, dark place with a speed that would have had any ninja drooling in envy.

* * *

 **You're going to pay for that later, aibou, I'm quite certain of it.**

The voice, not quite a thought and not something audible by the human ear, was deep and echoing faintly, leaving imprints of dark amusement in its wake.

Yuugi's grin, which had yet to actually go away, grew larger in response.

 _I know._ He thought. _But I need to keep them on their guard somehow, right? They need to get used to the unexpected._

 ** _And wanting payback for their joint prank had nothing to do with it, I gather?_**

The grin turned into a full-blown evil smirk. _Of course not._

He wiped the smirk off his face before any passerby – shinobi or civilian – could notice, and sat up from his reclining position on the bench, stretching stiff muscles and groaning weakly. Jonouchi wasn't the only one still getting used to the Court's newest means of communication – though, for Yuugi, who had the most experience with the shadows thanks to his darker half and his own personal experiences, it was less a matter of strangeness and more a matter of fatigue. Despite all his power, and the closeness he had with Yami, both of them were still technically only half souls, with hardly any of the endurance that the others had.

It was a little frustrating, but he'd rather lose every ounce of endurance he had than go back to being completely whole. At least with him and Yami separated, he always had someone to talk to, someone to confide in.

 _Yami, would you mind searching the village while I book a room for the night?_

 _ **Look for the normal signs?**_

 _Yes, please. Remember, be careful._

The slightly darker violet tint to his shadow – one of many signs that his other self was present and accounted for – jumped to a much larger shadow cast by a nearby building, before vanishing. The sudden departure made him shiver involuntarily, wrapping his arms around himself as the strange, disjointed feeling of being in two places at once made itself known.

After a moment of recovery, the young man sighed and forced himself up onto his feet, wincing at the pins-and-needles sensation left over from his _nap_.

* * *

In his old village, and the surrounding towns, Yuugi knew every road, every sign, every shortcut, every pond and animal trail, even knew every animal that traversed those trails by the unique sensation of its soul.

Konohagakure was not his old village.

This became blatantly obvious to the young mage when, after booking his room and deciding to wander and immerse himself in the sights and sounds of the town, he got hopelessly, pathetically lost.

Not that he minded, honestly. So long as he stayed within the fortified walls, he had no doubt that Yami would find him again with relative ease, and being so well acquainted with the shadows of the world would more than make up for his sense of direction.

Also, this town was actually rather nice, for what was basically a military outpost. The buildings were in good repair, freshly painted, with colored roofs and awnings, colorful shopfronts, charming cobblestone streets, and plants growing in abundance. Add the majestic sight of the huge rock faces of the Hokage, the surrounding forest, and the tall white tower at the center of the village, the place had a mysteriously charming vibe.

There was an undercurrent of tension in the people as the went about their day to day lives, however. Nothing serious, no panic, nothing violent, and it seemed to not even hinder them as they went about their day, but it was there, buried under the normal, everyday emotions. It was especially noticeable in the few ninja (recognizable by the familiar green vests and leaf headbands) he spotted on the roofs or in the street.

He felt a little tense himself, though for completely different reasons.

Chakra – the energy used by shinobi to perform their superhuman feats – was a powerful thing. To the untrained – or non-magical – senses, it was invisible, and yet it permeated the very earth around them, laced through every fiber, every stone, every cell. But to a mage, here, in this village where it was used in great quantities every day, it was an itch that was borderline overwhelming.

How could the shinobi live with this, every day, and have most never even notice it?

His musing was cut off by a familiar flicker of violet.

 _ **Done sight-seeing?**_

Yuugi half-smiled at the teasing. _I guess. Did you find anyone?_

Instead of an audible response, there was just a general feeling of _no._

Well, he hadn't actually expected anything from this place, anyway. Like he's said to the Court earlier, magic and chakra didn't get along too well – and even if someone with chakra could potentially use the Shadows, it would be a minimal, temperamental usage at best.

 _In that case, would you mind leading me back to the Inn?_

A moment of silence, then a subtle tugging at one of his legs, urging him to start walking.

* * *

There were children nearby.

This wasn't particularly unusual, of course – even in a military village like this one, there were bound to be families settling down. Still, it was such a bright, cheerful sound in an otherwise quiet place that he couldn't help but be drawn to it.

He settled down on a bench, and watched with amusement as several children, all around eight to ten years old, ran and tumbled and mucked about in one local playground with the air of people who'd been confined indoors all day, and wanted desperately to relieve their stress.

 ** _I'd imagine they_** **have** ** _been indoors all day_** , Yami commented wryly. _**They're certainly old enough to be in school.**_

 _And at least a couple of them are in the Ninja Academy,_ Yuugi noted, as one boy, stocky and brown-haired, accompanied by a tiny white dog, jumped from one of the platforms and rolled when he hit the ground, absorbing the impact. _I can't imagine they get to act like children too often there._

They watched the boys and girls for a few more minutes, as they switched between different games – tag, catch, what might have been a failed attempt at hide-and-seek. Then, just as Yuugi decided enough was enough and stood up to leave, he noticed another child.

A blonde boy, the same age as the others, standing awkwardly to the side, fidgeting and watching, just as Yuugi was. He was barely visible, hidden in the shadows of one of the trees lining the little playground, but he wasn't quite invisible enough for Yuugi to not notice, with a single glance, the darkness behind his blue eyes, and the dark shadows lingering around him.

Yuugi frowned. Of course, it stood to reason that a village like this, which trained it's children to be assassins and warriors, would have a few lingering around who had lost someone. That was his first thought, seeing those shadows, that this little boy had lost someone, and recently, judging by the rawness of those blotches of darkness on his soul.

The other children finally noticed the boy, and stopped playing.

"Hey, look," one of them hissed. "It's _that_ kid again."

"Geez, why won't he just leave us alone? Doesn't he get that no one _wants_ him here?"

"Hey, dumbass!" the boy with the dog shouted, smirking. "Shouldn't you be at home with your _parents?"_

This earned a slight flinch, and an angry glare from the blonde.

"Hey, we shouldn't be talking to him," one of the girls said, turning her nose up at him disdainfully. "He's bad news, mom told me."

Now there was a flicker of hurt in blue orbs, and, with an angry glare, the blonde turned and ran away. The other children jeered after him for a few moments, until he was out of sight, then turned back to their peers and started chattering and playing again like nothing had happened.

Not one of them seemed the slightest bit guilty.

 ** _Well, that was rude. I wonder what he did to deserve that kind of treatment?_**

Yuugi frowned. He doubted it was anything the boy had done. He recognized bullies when he saw them, no matter what age they were.

Making a split-second decision, he turned away from where Yami had told him the Inn was and followed the young blonde.

 ** _Yuugi –_**

 _I'm just making sure he gets home okay,_ Yuugi reasoned. _He ran off on his own, and I'm sure his parents or guardians would be worried._

A sigh. _**Very well. He turned down the first street to the left.**_

* * *

He followed the trail the boy's wounded soul had left behind for some time before he actually caught up. He'd walked almost across the entire village, leaving the park far behind and coming across what he assumed to be a market street, lined with numerous shops, mostly restaurants, judging by the myriad of delicious smells. People were hustling and bustling about with a bit more purpose here than the rest of the town, but Yuugi hardly paid them any attention, zeroing in on the aura he'd been following.

He found the boy inside one of the restaurants, a little building whose entrance was covered with banners declaring the place to be called _Ichiraku Ramen_. The inside of the building was rather small, with only a single counter and row of bar stools, and the boy was perched on one of the stools, working his way through a bowl of noodles, broth, and what looked to be pulled pork.

Yuugi considered him for a moment, then pushed aside the banners and made his way inside.

"Hello!" said the young woman behind the counter, giving him a winning smile. "Welcome to Ichiraku's! How may we help you today?"

Yuugi gave her a kind smile back.

"Hello. I'm afraid I've never been here before, do you have any recommendations?" He gestured to the menu.

"Oh, a traveler?" she asked. He nodded. "Well, the Miso Ramen is a customer favorite."

"May I have a bowl of the Miso, then?"

"Coming right up!" She disappeared through the door to the kitchen. After a moment, her head popped around the doorframe again.

"Oh, and Naruto, your second bowl is almost ready for you! Father will bring it out shortly."

The boy grumbled what might have been a _thank you_ , but otherwise didn't react. The woman gave him a sympathetic look before pulling her head back into the kitchen.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Yuugi sparing brief glances at the boy. Up close, he could see a series of strange birthmarks on his cheeks that vaguely resembled whiskers.

Finally, his other half said, _**He's been glancing at you frequently since you arrived, out of the corner of his eye.**_

Now Yuugi turned his head, in time to catch the boy's suspicious stare. The blonde froze.

Yuugi smiled. "You know, it's rather rude to stare."

The child just turned away quickly and started shoveling his ramen into his face with ease of practice. He didn't apologize, just kept his gaze fixed firmly on his bowl, his hands clenching particularly tightly.

"There's no need to be uptight about it," Yuugi reassured him, apparently surprising him into looking back at him. "I get a lot of stares." The young man gestured at his wild head of gravity-defying, black, red, and blonde hair, his smile turning rueful. "It comes with the hair, I suppose."

This earned the first sign of levity he'd seen from the boy – a small, almost imperceptible, snicker.

"How…" The boy paused, then finished quickly, "How did you get your hair like that anyway?"

He waited uncertainly, as if he half-expected Yuugi to refuse him his answer, but what he got was an even wider grin and a chipper, "Oh, it's natural!"

Cue those blue orbs blowing up to the size of dinner plates. "No way!"

"No, it really is, it runs in my family!"

"That's...that's…"

"Weird?" Yuugi supplied.

"Cool!" The blonde blurted out. "I mean, your hair looks really cool, so –"

He stopped, the budding innocent enthusiasm in his eyes and voice fading a little, then bit his lip and looked back down at his bowl.

"Sorry," he muttered.

Yuugi frowned, watching the boy with concern, noting the tightening fists, the tense muscles. It was almost as if the child was preparing himself for a physical blow.

 _Abused, perhaps?_

Better take this slow. If he _was_ a victim of abuse, then he might bolt for it the instant he asked an incriminating question.

"Your name's Naruto, right?" he asked gently. The boy looked up at him sharply, as if surprised.

"You didn't know?"

"No, should I have?"

"Well, yeah… I mean, if you're from Konoha."

He gave Naruto another rueful smile. "I'm not from around here. I'm just passing through."

The blonde grumbled, and stuffed the last bite of ramen into his mouth just as a middle-aged man emerged from the kitchen carrying a fresh bowl of steaming food. He set it down in front of the boy, and after a quick little bow and a mutter of thanks, Naruto started stuffing his face with that, too.

He waited another minute (during which his own bowl of ramen was brought out and he took a few careful bites – it was quite good, no wonder it was a customer favorite), before he hesitantly asked, "Are you alright?"

Naruto choked, coughed, spluttered for a few moments, before whipping around to face him with the most shocked expression he'd shown yet. He didn't even bother to hide it.

"W-why do you want to know?" he managed.

Concern, both from Yami and Yuugi himself. Why such an extreme reaction? Sure, he was just a random stranger, but that couldn't have been all of it, could it?

"Well," Yuugi began a little uncertainly, "you seem a little upset." More than a little. "And you're alone. Don't you have any friends to spend time with?"

Naruto's eyes darkened, and their shared sense of concern grew into something approaching alarm as his lips curled into a hateful sneer.

"Who needs friends?" he snarled. "They're all stupid. I hate them!"

"What about your parents?" Yuugi ventured. The darkness in his eyes intensified, thought this time, when he spoke, his voice was almost indifferent.

"Don't have any. They died when I was a baby."

 _An orphan?_

"What about your guardians, then?"

"Guardians?"

"You know, the people that take care of you now that your parents are gone?" Why was he feeling a rising sense of dread?

"Oh, well, Gramps stops by every now and then to give me my money for the month and Iruka-sensei takes me shopping sometimes."

Yuugi just stared at him in astonished horror. That wasn't a guardian's duty, to just leave money for a child to survive on for a month with no idea how to spend it!

"That's not what a guardian does! Who takes care of you now that your parents are gone?!"

The little sneer that had started to disappear turned into a full-blown, animalistic snarl, Naruto's eyes scrunching up in anger.

"I take care of myself!"

"But surely some adult here in the village –"

Naruto finished one last gulp before slamming his bowl on the counter with some yen underneath it, and storming away.

"Hey, Naruto-kun, wait a moment!"

He sprang to his feet, pushing aside the curtains, ready to pursue – when he felt the faint sensation that was Yami's equivalent of putting a hand on his shoulder.

 ** _Aibou, wait._**

 _Wait? But –_

 _ **Look.**_

He did.

And what he saw was, as the little boy ran off into the crowd, the adults quickly pulling away, some pulling their own children with them so they were out of the way as he passed. Some went so far as to shield them with their bodies. Murmuring began – he couldn't hear the exact words, but the tone was an unmistakable one.

Disapproval. Fear. _Hatred._

All of those hateful faces, aimed at the disappearing back of a little kid with no family to turn to.

That little girl said "He's bad news, mom told me," He remembered, the feeling of dread only intensifying as Yami inevitably came to the same conclusion as he did.

The entire village has turned their backs on him.

What did he do to deserve this?

* * *

Even though his original plan had been to simply spend the night, and leave when morning came, Yuugi booked a couple extra nights in his room and spent his days searching for Naruto. Yami, who would normally remind Yuugi that people didn't always take too kindly to even friendly interference in their lives, took to stalking through the streets himself, jumping from shadow to shadow in an effort to find the boy.

Two days later, Yami suddenly came surging back.

 _ **I've found him! He's back at Ichiraku's.**_

Yuugi more or less dropped everything and rushed to the little shop.

Sure enough, when he stopped outside, there was Naruto, just leaving the shop and waving over his shoulder to the owners with a smile on his face.

Though the boy seemed more cheerful than before, that loneliness, as he'd eventually recognized the unknown emotion to be, was just as pronounced as before.

He waited, watching as the boy turned away and started trotting at a leisurely pace, seemingly unperturbed by the continuous barrage of hate coming from the crowds around him.

 _ **Yuugi…**_

He didn't need his darker half's prompting. He quickly walked after the boy, deftly weaving and bobbing through the throngs, and telling himself that no, this did not count as stalking.

He tailed the boy out of the market, through various main streets and some alleys – shortcuts, he guessed – all the while ignoring the stares he was getting, until suddenly the boy stopped at a little bridge that was free of traffic, and turned around quickly.

"Why are you following me?" he asked suspiciously. Yuugi shifted his weight nervously. His first impulse was, of course, to say _I was worried about you_ , but considering how Naruto had reacted the last time…

So instead of following his instincts, he took a slightly safer path and asked, quietly, "Why do they hate you so much? The villagers?"

A scowl crept across the boy's face, but he just looked away.

"I don't know," he said. "They just do."

They stood there in silence for a moment, as Naruto supposedly waited for another question and Yuugi struggled to think of something else to say, something to help.

Unlike most wounds to a human soul, loneliness could not be healed with just magic. The wounds themselves could be forced to scar, but if the afflicted remained alone, the scars would just reopen. The only real cure was to find someone to lean on, to share burdens with – someone to dissuade that loneliness. Friends, family, _anybody_.

But no one in the entire village, save for this "Gramps" and "Iruka-sensei" that Naruto had mentioned and the two owners of Ichiraku's, seemed to even want him around. Their hatred had obviously been passed down to their kids as well – he'd bet those children at the playground weren't the only ones who openly mocked him, bullied him, whenever he walked by.

"And you don't have any friends…?"

Naruto shook his head sullenly. "I don't need any."

That was a lie. His eyes spoke volumes, even with the lighter mood he'd been in. He wanted, no, _needed_ someone to confide in.

No one here, save a few, were willing to really help him. The few who seemed to treat him alright didn't count, in his eyes, because despite the fondness in the boy's voice when he'd spoken of them, and the smile he'd given the Ichiraku's owner, it was obviously far from enough to even begin to heal those wounds.

"Well," he began, "even if you say you don't have any, it would be nice to have at least one, right?"

"Yeah, so? It's not like anyone here wants to be my friend."

No one here to help. Which meant…

 _ **Yuugi, are you sure?**_

He took a deep breath. _Positive._

"That's not quite true," he said. "I want to be your friend."

Silence. Then Naruto turned to look at him.

He looked stunned.

"Y-you – y-you what?"

The mage gave him a smile – a wry one.

"You seem nice enough to me. And you're the first person I've met to call my family's hair cool."

"B-but – b-but –" Naruto gulped, struggling to squash the hope rising in his eyes. "You're not from here, right? Wh-what about your family?"

"My grandfather died two years ago, and my parents travel frequently, so I rarely see them."

"D-don't you already h-have friends…?"

"They travel a lot, too. We mostly talk to each other through letters." And through the shadows. "Actually," he added thoughtfully, "if I moved here, it might be easier for them to send me things. You don't really have a mailing address if you're just wandering around."

Naruto's mouth was opening and shutting, that bright gleam in his eyes growing.

"B-but… what about the people here? If you be my friend, they'll hate you, too…"

Yuugi smirked, letting Yami's amusement at the idea leak through to the outside world.

"Naruto, they can hate me all they want. I don't need their approval, and you certainly don't, either."

He held out one hand, his smile growing. "Well? What do you think?"

He waited.

He didn't need to wait long.

The weak brightness in the boy's eyes grew until unrestrained glee was pouring from them, and with a happy yell, the boy sprung forward to latched onto Yuugi in a bear hug, almost knocking the short man over.

Amused – and glad he'd finally gotten a real smile from the child – Yuugi ruffled his hair.

"So does this mean we're friends now?"

A beaming smile was aimed up at him.

"Yes! We're friends!"

And as Naruto eagerly took Yuugi's hand and walked with him back to his hotel, babbling eagerly about apartments near his that Yuugi could move into, and how "Gramps" might give him money too, if he asked, and the two of them drew numerous astonished stares, Yuugi suddenly remembered something he'd said during the Court meeting, and couldn't help but laugh a little at the thought.

 _Looks like I'll be moving in here after all._


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey, look, I'm uploading again, thank God! Sorry about the wait! I've had a LOT of shit going on at home - Mom was in and out of the hospital, and my Grandpa died, so my mind hasn't really been in the right place for writing. But here I am! I'm back! (And to those of you waiting for the next chapter of Magicae est Potestas, sorry, you'll have to wait a little while longer. I've written a little, but my mood kept getting ruined, so...)**

 **Anywho, new chapter, and thank you to everyone who's Favorited and Followed this story! I'm glad to see that you're enjoying it!**

* * *

"You're _what?!"_

Yuugi winced, and grinned sheepishly at the light-veined outline of Kaiba. "I'm planning on moving into an apartment in Konoha…?"

The figure sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. "Great. Just great… do I want to know what brought this on?"

The sheepish grin grew bigger and earned another sigh. "Don't tell me you're just moving in on a _whim…"_

"Well, no?"

"Then _why?_ As I recall, magicians are actively _discouraged_ from living in the shinobi villages under _normal_ circumstances, _which yours aren't._ And isn't there a mind-reading clan in Konoha?"

A chuckle. _**We've dealt with mind-readers before, Kaiba.**_

Kaiba made an exasperated noise somewhere between a groan and a growl. "I _know_ , but _ninja_ mind-readers… one slip-up, one sign you're less than normal…"

Yuugi shook his head. "We've already figured out a plan for that, Kaiba. Yami can block some of our more incriminating memories –"

He was cut off by a sharp gesture by one hand. "That's _not_ the point, Muto. If you screw up, you could expose _all_ of us, make the entire Magician's Court and all the mages under our jurisdiction _targets!_ You _must_ have _some_ reason to put us all at risk like that, so _what is it?!"_

A moment of silence, punctuated only by the faint whispering of the Shadows, as Yuugi carefully put together his response.

"There's someone here," he said, finally.

"A mage?"

"No, not a mage… he's training to be a Genin. A boy, eight years old, name of Naruto Uzumaki. He's an orphan –"

"You can't just move there for some _charity case –"_

" _He's not just a charity case!"_

The taller man drew back, startled. Yuugi sucked in a breath, forcing himself to calm again, then continued, with only a slight shudder in his voice to betray his fierce outburst.

"He's not just a charity case. He's… he's only _eight_ , and the village…"

He shook his head, then pushed a tendril of violet forward. Kaiba's own shadows, after some hesitation, extended outward and finished the offered connection, and Yuugi _shoved_ every memory of what he'd seen forward. The loneliness in the boy's eyes, the deep wounds in his soul, filled with clinging darkness, the other children in the playground, the hateful looks from the crowds, Naruto's own voice, _"Who needs friends? They're all stupid, I hate them!"_

The sheer _relief_ in the boy's eyes, when he'd realized Yuugi meant to stay.

He pulled back, breaking the connection, and watched as the air around Kaiba boiled with suppressed rage, far more intense than the irritation from before.

"Did I _really_ just see that?" He hissed. "How _dare_ they?"

Yuugi nodded, scowling.

"We can't just leave Naruto alone after that. He doesn't have a single friend, and he has no official guardian – all he has is a father-daughter duo who run his favorite restaurant, one of his teachers, and someone he calls _Gramps_ , who I can only assume is one of the village elderly, and they're hardly ever around for him!"

He shook his head and forced himself to calm down again. "And besides that, there's some reason _why_ he's treated so badly. There _has_ to be. I mean to find out."

Silence.

"…Why tell me? Why not one of your _geek squad?"_

Yuugi shrugged. "They'd try harder to stop me."

Kaiba snorted.

"Also, there's some sort of test involved in registering for citizenship –"

"I'm not giving you the answers. Besides, I live in the Land of _Water_. I won't know _nearly_ enough about the Land of _Fire_ to answer any of your questions accurately. If you don't know, cheat."

"Kaiba!"

"No, seriously, _cheat_. I've seen those tests, they're absolutely _brutal._ You'll need every edge you can get."

Yuugi chewed on his lip, then nodded.

"Thank you, Kaiba."

"Don't thank me. Just _don't get caught."_

With an irritated gesture, Kaiba disappeared, and Yuugi followed his lead, pulling himself up out of the Shadows and back into the waking world.

"Yuugi-san, if you have a hotel room, why are you sleeping on a bench?"

He blinked up at Naruto's puzzled blue eyes, then sat up, rubbing the back of his neck to get the crick out of it.

"You don't need to call me Yuugi _-san_ , Naruto." He yawned. "I've never been a very formal person, Yuugi is fine…"

The blonde shifted uncomfortably, then grinned. "Okay, um, Yuugi? Why are you sleeping on a bench?"

He ruffled the boy's hair with one hand. "I was just tired, Naruto, don't worry."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure," he reassured him. "Now, Ichiraku's?"

"Heck yeah!"

* * *

It was one thing to declare his intentions for moving in. Actually _moving in_ was another thing entirely.

For one thing, there was his little problem of _not having a job._

He set down a newspaper – the third one he'd read – with a frustrated noise. In most towns he'd visited, there were advertisements for odd jobs at the least, and more often than not, actual steady jobs as well. But here, there were no such advertisements – and, after a quick talk with Naruto, he had learned that most odd-jobs were taken on not by civilians, but by the genin of the village.

Needless to say, this was a problem. One he hadn't considered before opening his mouth and promising to stay.

He picked up another newspaper, opening it with a crinkling of paper.

 _Yami?_ He thought. _Have you found anything?_

Maybe his other half had had more luck. Even if advertisements weren't put up in the papers, some shops might put out signs.

 _ **No places employing,**_ **but…** A feeling of dark amusement flickered up the bond. _**I**_ **did** _ **find a casino.**_

Yuugi blinked.

Had he heard that right? A _casino_? Really? Weren't ninja forbidden to gamble or some such nonsense?

 _ **There are civilians here as well, aibou.**_

Right, right. It was surprisingly difficult to remember that at times, with all the latent chakra buzzing in the air around him. Nobody really _felt_ like a civilian to his senses.

Then the full implications finally sank in – a _casino_ , full of civilians gambling away their money – and he hid a smirk behind the paper.

 _Where?_

* * *

It was well known that ninja weren't allowed to gamble.

It was well-known enough that the employees of one _Kame Casino_ in the outskirts of Konoha had learned how to keep an eye out for shinobi, even in civilian garb. They had a certain way they moved – quiet, assured, professional – that most civilians could never pull off.

Still, despite the knowledge that no shinobi – save a certain female Sannin – would ever be caught dead in a gambling house, they would later swear that the young man with wild, tri-colored hair and dark clothes _had_ to be a shinobi of _some_ sort.

No civilian could identify the most high-stakes game in the entire casino with a single glance, nor walk right up to a group of professional gamblers and seamlessly integrate himself into the game with just the right note of uncertainty and an innocent smile, only to walk away minutes later several thousand yen richer than when he arrived.

When the man finally left an hour or so after he had arrived, he'd won almost twenty thousand yen, and the innocent smile had yet to leave his face.

What was most impressive, the staff would later agree, was that they hadn't once caught him cheating.

* * *

 _ **You'd think people born and raised alongside ninja would be more of a challenge.**_

Yuugi stifled a chuckle at his other self's disappointment, and turned his gaze in the direction of the Hokage monument, as one of the locals had informed him the large mountain of faces had been called.

 _Now, didn't Naruto say the Academy was at the base of the monument?_

It was, but of course, it took Yuugi several minutes longer than absolutely necessary to actually _find_ the building, and when he did, he could help but feel a little embarrassed. It was one of the taller buildings in the area, for goodness sake, and overlooked the entire village! It should have been easy enough to find!

He reached it just in time to see the last students trickling from the doors. Naruto sat underneath a tree growing in front of the entrance, in a little rickety wooden swing, kicking his feet in the dirt. The instant he spotted Yuugi, he immediately lurched to his feet and sprinted over.

"Yuugi! You're _late!"_

Yuugi chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry," he apologized. "I, er, don't know my way around here too well yet."

The boy scowled, none-too-seriously, before relenting and casting the sour look from his face in favor of his wide grin.

 _He just can't stay mad at me, can he?_

"How're you doing on, y'know," he lowered his voice to a whisper, " _the moving-in thing?"_

Yuugi frowned. "Why are you whispering?" He raised his eyes from the boy to look around – and found some of the boy's fellow students and their parents watching them with various expressions.

Most of the children just looked curious or surprised, but many of the parents were openly _scowling_ at them.

Some of them were wearing shinobi uniforms.

 _Ah._

"Do you want to go somewhere more private?"

Naruto nodded furiously, casting that heart-wrenchingly hateful glare at their witnesses.

"How about the park from yesterday?"

The boy began to nod, then suddenly shook his head.

"I've got a _better_ place than that!"

He reached up as if to take his hand, then paused and looked doubtfully in the direction of the crowd.

Yuugi glanced at the crowd, then took the offered hand, to the apparent offense of at least a dozen or so individuals (judging by the muttering and the gasps).

"Lead the way."

* * *

Here we are!"

Stuffing his keys back into his pocket, Naruto pushed on the little wooden door of what was apparently _his_ apartment open. "Ta-dah!"

The apartment was small, and somewhat bare, but not quite as bad as Yuugi had been half-expecting. He'd been imagining a rat-ridden, slimy little hellhole, with little to no furniture.

Still, it was far from perfect. The wooden floor was grimy, dotted with numerous layers of dirty footprints. The walls probably hadn't started off that particular shade of gray. In fact, the only clean surfaces he could see from this vantage point was the top of the little table, the seat of the single chair set there, and the large potted plant sitting in the corner, which added a splash of green to the otherwise drab room.

Naruto padded off, presumably to drop some stuff off in another room (which he could only hope was in better shape than this one), calling over his shoulder that Yuugi could help himself to some of the instant ramen in the fridge.

A fridge which, he couldn't help but notice when he came closer, was repaired heavily with tape.

And only contained the previously mentioned instant ramen, some empty water bottles, and a carton of milk, mostly empty, which, when he checked the label, had expired weeks ago.

Hadn't the kid said he got money from this _Gramps_ person every month? Exactly how _much_ was he receiving, if this was all that he could afford?

Naruto padded back into the room, having dropped off his stuff.

"So, how's the moving-in thing going?"

"I managed to get some money today. I still need to find an apartment, though…"

He hesitated.

"Naruto… you said you got money from someone every month?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Gramps gives me some so I can pay the rent and buy food and stuff."

"If this _Gramps_ of yours pays you every month… well, is it enough?"

"Oh, yeah! I have enough for food and paying the rent every month – though the rent's gotten really expensive…"

Remembering the hateful glare at the apartment's superintendent as they'd walked through the lobby (even off the streets, Naruto wasn't completely safe from the _looks_ ), and the man's surprisingly rich clothing, Yuugi could take an educated guess as to where that extra rent money was going. He was going to have _words_ with whoever was in charge. You did _not_ let employees extort people like that, _especially_ kids.

"Have you tried asking him for more?"

Naruto frowned, scratching his head. "I don't need it, though. And anyway, I've had less!"

 _How could he ever have had_ less?

Yuugi took another look around the shabby little room, then sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger.

"Yuugi?"

He waved one hand as airily as he could. "Don't worry, Naruto, I'm fine."

 _This village, on the other hand, is not._

"Anyway, I'm sure that if _Gramps_ wants to help you, he can offer a little more."

Naruto seemed to consider this. "I don't really want to bother him anymore…"

 _How he's still so kind after everything the village puts him through, I'll never know._

"I'm sure he won't mind," he reassured the boy. "After all, if he lets you call him _gramps_ then he's probably very fond of you."

The blonde gave him an unnervingly surprised look. "Really? Wow, I didn't know he liked me that much!"

 _…_ _dear Lord, he's clueless._

* * *

The rumor mill, though sometimes useful, was a double-edged sword. You could never tell just how truthful a particular gossiper was, or just how much of a tale was accurate or just that – a tale.

The man known as Iruka-sensei by many up-and-coming genin of Konoha knew this better than most, having kept an ear out for years, ever since a certain little blonde knucklehead had been put in his class. Most gossip was senseless civilian chatter, or, amongst ninja, word on just how the trainees were faring in the Academy classes (which he had first-hand knowledge of), or complaints about Naruto's pranks and general existence (which he was severely fed up with).

But occasionally, there would be a little tidbit of something that would catch his attention.

 _"_ _What on earth is he thinking, hanging out with that kid?"_

Like now.

He'd had a few years to pick up on certain tones, and that angry, nervous whispering was one he recognized all too well – that was someone's _oh no we're talking about the demon brat again aren't we_ tone.

And who was "he?"

Leaning back in his seat, Iruka feigned an air of casual indifference, while tilting his head slightly to one side so the ear facing the conversation could pick up the sounds better.

 _"_ _How should I know? I'm not about to walk up and pick his brain on the matter. Besides, you've seen him, right? There's no way that guy's normal."_

 _"_ _He's probably a foreigner, with hair like that…"_

A foreigner? He frowned slightly, sorting through the list of visitors he'd memorized. (Konoha didn't get too many visitors, and as a general policy it was best to keep an eye on the few that came until they left. Just in case.) None of them, that he knew of at least, had been marked as having come from outside the Land of Fire.

And what did his hair have anything to do with it?

 _"_ _Why should we even care? It's not our problem who he associates with. If he wants to hang out with the little demon, let him!"_

 _"_ _But shouldn't we warn him, at least? He seems like such a nice young man, even if he spends most of his time with Uzumaki…"_

And now it was all he could do not to sit up with alarm, because there was a _lot_ wrong with that last sentence. His first thought had been that maybe one of the visiting families' kids had taken a liking to Naruto (there were two with children around the blonde's age currently visiting, and they seemed the sort to enjoy pranks, so it was a possibility), but _young man_ implied an _adult_ , or someone close enough to adulthood to make no real practical difference. And _spending most of his time with Uzumaki…_ well, that was self-explanatory. And bad. Very bad.

Why would a complete stranger, who'd likely only arrived in Konoha recently, take an interest in the local orphan prankster?

 _Could it be that he knows about the Kyuubi…?_

Which was, admittedly, only a worst-case scenario, and unlikely. An enemy shinobi wouldn't make such a scene by acting openly friendly with Naruto – instead, they'd probably just scout for a couple days, then make a snatch for him when it seemed like he was alone and no one would come looking for him for a while.

 _But it is a possibility._

He'd have to inform the Hokage. On the off chance that this _was_ an enemy nin, there would need to be patrols, spies, possibly extra guards on the walls and at the gate.

But first…

He stood up, stretching stiff muscles – he'd been sitting there for longer than he'd thought – and took off at speed.

He had a certain blonde Genin to find, and he knew just where to start looking.


	4. Chapter 3

Kaiba hadn't been kidding when he'd called the citizenship tests _brutal._

Yuugi chewed anxiously on the end of his pen, eyeing the paper monstrosity before him. It was a good ten pages long, the questions printed in a small, but readable font, at least twenty questions on each page so far.

It wasn't the number that made him balk, but the fact that after halfway through page two, the questions went from _common knowledge_ to _you're moving into a ninja village, so you've obviously memorized every law in the book!_

Perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration, but having been born and raised in a tiny village far from most centers of urban civilization, it sure _felt_ like that.

 _Yami? Any clue about, uh…_ He tapped one particularly perplexing question with his pen cap.

 _ **No, afraid not.**_

Damn. Well, it had been worth a shot. Grimacing, Yuugi left that question unmarked and moved on to the next – which was even _worse_ than the previous.

 _Dear Lord, how can they even expect us to_ answer _this, let alone get 80%?_

Dark amusement. _**Well, obviously they would expect an**_ **upstanding** **citizen** _ **to know their own laws, wouldn't they?**_

 _I've been traveling around the_ _Great_ _Nations for years! I haven't been in one place long enough to know the laws!_

Until he'd managed to bribe the librarian in the local library to allow him access without a card, and read through every law book he could find. Those had been a headache-inducing few days.

With a groan, Yuugi carefully marked the answer that seemed the most logical, and flipped to the next page.

He stared numbly at the first new question.

Now, Yuugi liked to think of himself as a calm, patient sort of individual, and usually he was, but upon seeing the new bunch of _impossibly more difficult_ questions, he had to restrain his impulse to bang his head on the desk.

* * *

Naruto was exactly where Iruka thought he was – Ichiraku's. He could hear the boy's loud voice before he even reached the entrance, cheerfully recalling one of his most recent pranks.

Good. He wasn't sure that he had the patience to go searching for him today.

He pushed aside the hanging curtains. In his seat, Naruto turned to look at the newcomer, and, upon seeing Iruka, broke into a huge smile.

"Iruka-sensei!" He sprang from his seat and tackled the shinobi in a full-on bear hug with enough force that a civilian probably would've been knocked over. "I thought you said you had a lot of grading to do today!"

"Yeah, I got it done early today." Which _was_ true, technically – he _had_ finished the grading early, even if the last few tests had been rushed. "So you've got me for the entire afternoon, kiddo."

"Whooo!"

He let himself smile at the blonde's exuberance, even as he gave the boy a once-over. Usually, Naruto was covered in dirt head to toe, and smelled vaguely like the sour musk of his apartment. Today, however, his hair and clothes were cleaner, with only the faintest traces of filth at the knees and the hem of each pant leg – likely from that day's training. The musk, though still there, was much fainter, barely noticable.

 _I_ thought _he looked better than usual this morning._

"So, you look like you've been doing better lately," he said, letting Naruto drag him to his usual seat. "How are things at home?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose.

"I've been _cleaning,"_ he said, as if the word was the foulest curse he'd ever heard.

Iruka actually _choked_.

"You've been _cleaning?!"_

"Yep." Seeming a little miffed at this, his student went back to stuffing his face with ramen, continuing even though his mouth was full. "Apparently my apartment _stinks_."

… He was _not_ going to snicker. Even if he wasn't officially on duty right now, a shinobi was supposed to be _professional._

"Well, it does." he offered.

"It isn't _that_ bad!"

 _In comparison to blood and rotting meat,_ _no, it's not_ _._ Not that he'd say that out loud. His own room in the orphanage had been _atrocious_ , he had no right to criticize.

Normally, he would've continued the conversation – mundane topics were surprisingly entertaining to talk about with Naruto about, if only to see his reactions – but today, he had a _mission._

"Say, Naruto?" _Easy there, let's start off easy._ "Anything new happen recently, apart from the cleaning?"

The boy paused and _hmmed_ up at the ceiling, thinking. "There's a new ramen here, does that count?"

Behind the counter, Ayame giggled. "I don't think that's what he means, Naruto-kun. You're usual, Iruka-san?"

"Yes please. Well?"

Naruto chewed on his lip for a moment, then perked up.

"I've made a friend!"

 _Here we go._

"A friend? Really?"

"Yep!" He bounced up and down in his seat, looking downright _ecstatic._ "He's from out-of-town, and his name is Yuugi!"

 _Yuugi._ Definitely not a name of any foreign nin _he_ knew of, which was admittedly a relief – you only really heard of the _infamously lethal_ ones – but still, he couldn't afford to lower his guard. It could be an alias.

"Yuugi, huh?" he mused. "What's this _Yuugi_ like, then?"

Naruto grinned. "He's _awesome!"_ he proclaimed. "He doesn't hate me like the village does, and he comes to Ichiraku's with me sometimes!"

Which would no doubt put him in Naruto's good books right away, no matter the personality.

"I think he wants to know a little more than _that,"_ Teuchi commented wryly as he emerged with Iruka's food. He set the bowl down and pushed it across to the man, who thanked him and went to work on the noodles.

"Oh!" Naruto looked sheepish. "Well, he's really nice! He listens to me when I talk, and he tells me about places he's travelled to! He's traveled a lot!"

 _Shinobi travel a lot._

"And he plays games a lot. He's really good at them, too! He told me yesterday he'd teach me how to play a card game he likes!"

"Card game, huh?"

"He likes other games, too." Naruto said, nodding. "He told me he's really good at shogi!"

 _Which also means he's good at strategic planning._

"Do you know where he's from? Where he was born?"

"Hmmm..." The boy scrunched up his brow in concentration. "Well, no, but he _sounds_ like he's from the Land of Fire?

Looked like _some_ of his lessons had been driven home, at least – _sounded like_ wasn't the same thing as _was._

"So he could be from somewhere else?"

"I mean, maybe? But even if he is, that's cool! I mean, he's cool! He's loads better than all the jerks here!"

"So he treats you okay?"

He nodded furiously. "Yeah! He's always really nice to me, and when I'm feeling bad, he tries to cheer me up!" He paused, looked around, and then leaned forward and continued in a whisper, "He _really_ doesn't like how people are around me – when I told him about my pranks, he told me to keep doing them, because he thought they deserved it!"

That sounded kind of… _vindictive_ for a spy. "He really said that?"

Naruto squirmed. "Well, he told me that _plus_ not to hurt anybody, because hurting them would only make them hate me more."

 _And possibly raise suspicion as to what sort of company you keep,_ he thought. But so far, at least, this guy didn't sound like _much_ of a threat, if he was one.

"Sounds like he's a pretty swell guy, then." Iruka finished. "But, uh, be careful around him for now, okay? After all, if we don't know where he's from –"

"'Then he could be from anywhere,'" Naruto finished. He scowled. "Iruka-sensei, I _do_ pay attention in class, you know!"

"Really? Then what's the hand seals for the _henge_ , then?"

"Uh..." Naruto made a few signs above his ramen, looking nervous.

"No! It's Dog, Boar, _Ram!_ "

"Eep! Sorry!"

* * *

 _Finally,_ Yuugi groaned, penning down the last _excruciating_ answer on the last question. _That took_ way _too long._

Yami chuckled, but even he sounded a little stressed. _**Not one for written exams, aibou?**_

 _Oh, shut it, you were having trouble, too._

He stood up, stretching and brushing his bangs away from his sweaty brow, before marching over to the woman who'd given him the test in the first place, and setting it on the table before her.

"I've finished the written exam, madam."

The secretary picked up the papers, giving them a brief look-through, before nodding and handing them back. "Alright. Take this up to Daisuke Yamanaka, up on the second floor, to finish the process." She paused, then gave him a look of professional concern. "You want some water, young man?"

Yuugi nodded furiously. "Yes _please."_

Cold drink acquired, he meandered up the steps and to the second level.

 _Yamanaka, Yamanaka… ah, here we go._

The door labeled _Yamanaka, Daisuke_ was plain and nondescript, but easy enough to find, thanks to the strong chakra signature behind it.

 _Stay outside, Yami. Just in case._

A murmur of agreement, and his shadow flickered as his other half made himself scarce, leaving Yuugi alone in the hall. He gave himself a quick once-over, looking for stray bits of magic that might be clinging to him – he'd found out through experience that some shinobi could sense the stuff, so there was no use taking any chances – then raised his hand to knock on the door.

"Come in." A man's voice called from the other side.

Yuugi frowned. _Definitely a good call to send Yami away._

Yuugi gingerly opened the door. The office was just as plain as the door – wooden desk, wooden floor, plain grey-white walls. The only personal decoration the room seemed to have was a light green banner with a bush clover symbol painted on it with thick black lines.

The man behind the desk was far less plain, with white-blonde hair drawn back into a ponytail, little blue stud earrings, and the most _intense_ teal eyes he had ever seen. They almost seemed like they could _burn a hole_ in his skull.

"Just finished the citizenship exam?" he asked, upon seeing the paper in Yuugi's hand.

"Yes, Yamanaka-san." Ignoring his unease – he could handle this alone, he could! – he handed over the paper, and, when the man gestured to the seat before him, sat down.

Several minutes passed in silence, as the man scanned his paper. Yuugi forced himself not to fidget as one blonde eyebrow slowly crept up millimeter by millimeter, until the man put the paper down.

"Well," he said. "You're the first in a long time who's passed. A solid eighty-one percent."

Yuugi let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. _So far so good._

The shinobi pulled a clipboard and pen from a drawer. "Now, the written test is only the first step. In order to make sure that you're reasonably sound of mind and that you won't inadvertently put Konoha in danger, I'm going to be asking you a series of questions. I want you to answer them as truthfully as possible."

He nodded wordlessly.

"If you're uncomfortable answering a question, let me know, and if I can, I'll try to skate around it. Ready?"

"Yes, Yamanaka-san." He clasped his hands together, hoping the slight tremble in his fingers would go unnoticed. _No reason to be scared, I'm just a_ normal civilian _who just wants to start anew. Nothing wrong with that._

Yamanaka set his pen on his paper. "Name?"

"Yuugi Muto."

He scribbled it down. "Age?"

"Twenty-three years old, turning twenty-four on June fourth."

 _Scribble._

 _"_ Place of birth?"

"Hisoka village. It's right on the border with the Land of Rivers."

"Family, living or deceased?"

Yuugi managed a faint smile. "Mother, Chiyoko Muto, father Kei Muto. They're alive, or at least, they were when I last checked. My grandpa, Suguroku Muto, died two years ago in his sleep."

 _Scribble._ "Anybody else?"

"Nobody I know, sir. I think my father has a couple of sisters, but I never met them."

The shinobi _hmmed_. "Family troubles, I take it?"

Yuugi nodded, and the man marked this down.

"Any genetic complications in your family?"

"Unless you count the hair, no sir."

Teal eyes rose to stare at his hair for a moment.

"That's _natural?_ "

"Yes sir."

"Hmm." He scribbled that down in the margins of his paper. "Been in any traumatizing incidents?"

Yuugi grimaced. "I had a run-in with a ninja when I was fifteen who threw a fireball at me. I wouldn't go near the fireplace for weeks. Does that count?"

"I suppose." _Scribble._ "Do you know why they were there? Any high-bounty targets in the area they could have been after?"

 _I might've become one_ _of those "high-bounty folks"_ _if Yami and I hadn't been forced to feed him to the Shadows._ "Not that I'm aware of, sir. He was just… there."

He scratched out a few more words. "I see. Ever been traveling?"

"I've been to the Lands of Lightning, Earth, and Water."

"Pretty far to travel."

Yuugi shrugged, picking at his nails underneath the table.

"Have you ever had contact with shinobi from those nations?"

"No sir."

"Passports for each nation, I take it?"

"Yes sir. One for the Land of Fire, too."

He nodded. "Hobbies?"

"Gaming."

This _finally_ earned a new reaction. The ninja raised his eyebrows. "Gaming?"

"Gaming," Yuugi confirmed, smiling. "Gambling, card games, shogi."

"Shogi, huh." The man wrote that down, eyebrows still raised. "Shogi's pretty popular here, especially in the Nara clan."

 _Good to know._ Maybe he could keep in practice, for when Kaiba inevitably challenged him to another game.

"A clan after my own heart, sir." he risked, and earned a brief smile as a reward.

"I'd imagine so. Now, final question." He set down the paper, fixing his whole attention on the young man before him. "Why do you want to become a citizen of Konohagakure?"

 _Oh Lord, I hope I can pull this off._

He took a deep breath, clenching his fingers. "Well, there's several reasons, Yamanaka-san. I've tried settling down in some places before, but they were never quite right for me. They were too crowded, or too unpopulated. This place is a nice sort of in-between, and I'm far more comfortable with it than any of those other places. This place is also safer – I've had a few run-ins with bandits before, and have no desire to run into any again. Any bandit trying to attack this place would probably be suicidal."

A twitch of a smile in response, and Yuugi took a deep breath. _So far so good._ "Also, the people here are fairly nice. People are a bit suspicious, maybe, but that's only to be expected of a Hidden Village, and they usually don't let that stop them from being civil."

"Usually?"

He grimaced. "In the past week or so, some people started getting more hostile because I, ah, apparently have made the _wrong sort of acquaintances_ in their eyes."

Yamanaka's eyes narrowed. "Who, exactly?"

 _Wonder how he'll react? No time like the present I suppose – I only hope he'_ _s not one of those that aren't to fond of him_ _._ "Naruto Uzumaki, sir."

The man blinked. Blinked again, apparently trying to process this. Then he let out a short bark of laughter.

"Yeah, that would do it. Try not to worry about those people too much – in my very _professional_ opinion, they all have sticks up their asses."

Yuugi started, an incredulous laugh slipping from his lips. "O-oh, they're not _all_ that bad, Yamanaka-san! They're just, er..."

"Overwhelming?" He commented wryly.

"Yes sir."

"Well, I wish you luck in getting used to them then, because as far as _I'm_ concerned, you've passed."

 _Oh thank God._

He leaned back in his chair, giving Yuugi a slight smile. "Now, the remaining paperwork you need to fill out is here." He slid some papers across the table for Yuugi to take, and the magician stifled a groan. _More paperwork._ "Once you've got this all filled out, double-check it with someone here. Then you'll need to take it to the Hokage's office, to get it stamped."

Yuugi's heart nearly jumped into his throat. "T-the Hokage's office, sir?"

The smile grew into a sardonic grin. "Yep. It's the same with every new citizen." Seeing his wide-eyed expression, the man's face softened a fraction. "Don't worry about it. You've already passed the exam, and you seem pretty sane to me, so it's very likely that you won't be there for long – no psyche evals, no mind-reading. Just go in, get the papers stamped and your photo ID taken, and then you're out."

He nodded numbly, but his mind was already miles away, struggling to slow the jackrabbit rhythm his heart had decided to pick up on.

 _He'd have to go see the Hokage to finalize his citizenship._

The universe had it out for him today. It really did.


	5. Chapter 4

Konohagakure was the largest and most populous of the Hidden Villages, chock-full of busy shop vendors, businesses, numerous shinobi clans, and hordes of civilians relying on the ninja to keep order within the fortified walls. Having such a prosperous village was, of course, an advantage, especially during negotiations with the other villages, allied or no, but sometimes one Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, wondered if it was worth the ever-multiplying paperwork that found its way onto his desk.

Or the headaches where situations like _this_ cropped up.

"You mean to tell me," the elderly shinobi said, slowly, every word enunciated with calm, icy precision, "that there has been a visitor accompanying Naruto for nearly a week and a half, and no one saw fit to inform me?"

Iruka – oh, _why_ had it only been _Iruka_ that saw fit to finally bring this to his attention, and not one of the numerous trained ANBU guards that he had assigned to watch over the young Jinjurikki during his daily excursions? – did not so much as flinch at his Hokage's tone, though his own brow furrowed in suspicious confusion.

"No one, Hokage-sama?"

The man shook his head, kneading his brow with one hand, even as he began shuffling through the mountain of paper piled up before him.

"Not a single one," he confirmed, scowling. "Not one report, not even a verbal debriefing. The only information I had prior to this were rumors, nothing more, and they were truly ridiculous rumors."

 _Entertainingly_ ridiculous, admittedly. He'd had himself a few amused chuckles after that first piece of gossip he'd heard – that someone had literally gambled the pants off of several prominent noblemen who had been playing in the Kame Casino. But now that this had sprung up… well, Iruka had reason to be concerned. It was no longer amusing.

With a schooled expression of professional worry, the teacher handed over the scroll holding his _unofficial_ report.

"I haven't been able to find out much about this guy," he admitted, grudgingly, as the Hokage unrolled the scroll and began scanning its contents. "Nobody seems to know much about him save for that he's a traveler – he's been to at least three other nations in the past few years – that he's a _'nice young man,'_ and that his hair is _weird._ "

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow without looking up from the scroll. "His hair?"

Iruka huffed, clearly irritated. "Yeah. Apparently, we'll ' _know it when we see it.'_ "

Which was about as useful to a shinobi as a blade of grass – not entirely useless, but still _far_ from helpful.

As was most of the information in Iruka's report. No wonder the poor man was so frustrated, he'd hardly been able to uncover _anything_. This Yuugi character was almost a complete mystery – he'd simply arrived at the village gates a little over two weeks ago, filled out the necessary paperwork, and then proceeded to more or less disappear for several days before _re_ appearing in the company of Naruto. No information on family or friends outside or _inside_ the village, no medical reports, nothing. What they _did_ have were characteristics cobbled together from various rumors and from a discussion Iruka had apparently had with Naruto – that the young man was, in fact, a young man, very polite, seemed to have formed a habit of napping on benches, liked playing card games and shogi, had been teaching Naruto said games, and possibly had a bit of a vindictive streak, judging by his encouragement of Naruto's pranks.

There were also a few notes concerning Naruto himself – how he seemed to have been taking care of himself better following his initial meeting with this man, and how Iruka had found his apartment much cleaner than it had been during his previous visit when he'd gone to have a look the next day, and even had a couple new furniture items – a new rug on the floor, for instance.

None of which _seemed_ to be the actions of _any_ kind of spy, ninja or civilian. But still, it was worrying that Iruka hadn't been able to find anything else.

Hiruzen sighed and rolled the scroll back up. "Thank you, Iruka. I will have to investigate this man soon." But not yet. First, he was going to have _words_ with the ANBU who'd thought this wasn't something the _Hokage_ needed to know. And then personally vet the guards that would take their places, since these ones were apparently just shy of _incompetent._

The teacher nodded stiffly, then got up, recognizing the words as a subtle dismissal. As he did, Hiruzen turned back to his staggeringly high tower of paperwork, picking up one paper to fill out or file away for later…

And froze as his eyes fell on a photograph clipped to a document on top of the pile.

 _Oh. "Know it when we see it," indeed._

"On second thought, Iruka," he said. "You may wish to stay for a bit longer, if your schedule will allow it."

Iruka paused, then turned back with a concerned, suspicious look. The Hokage held up the paper for him to see – a citizenship exam, filled out with eighty-one percent completion, along with a copy of an interview, several notes written along the margins, and a photograph of a young man with wild tri-colored hair.

The name written at the top of the paper was _Yuugi Muto._

* * *

The Hokage's office was apparently in the same building as the Academy – which was also the huge, white tower-like structure that Yuugi had noted his first day in the village. How he hadn't noticed that before, he wasn't entirely sure – seriously, how had he missed it? He'd walked right up to the building to pick Naruto up!– but that didn't actually matter at the moment, so, for now, he resolved to scold himself later, assuming he got out of his little meeting with the most powerful shinobi in the Land of Fire alive.

At this point, Yami would have usually chimed in with a comforting _I'm sure you'_ _ll survive_ _, aibou,_ but right now his other half was hovering worriedly in the shadows clinging to the outside of the building, having agreed with Yuugi's sentiment that if it was dangerous for him to linger in Daisuke Yamanaka's office, it would be doubly more so to linger inside the _Hokage's_ office.

Which was not a comforting thought, especially considering the chakra he was sensing coming from inside the man's office from his seat out in the hall.

Most of the chakra in Konoha was a slightly unsettling buzz, something just barely on the edges of his senses, like the distant hum of a beehive. It had taken some getting used to, but he'd been perfectly fine with it for several days now.

 _This_ chakra was more like a combination of the angry buzzing of a swarm of killer hornets and the crackling hum of an electric current, and it was such an intense sensation that it felt like it was making his very _bones_ vibrate. And he was fairly certain that this was the Hokage's chakra _suppressed_ , not even at full strength.

So, yes, he was positive that he was going to die once he stepped into that office, and already sweating bullets by the time the door opened.

"The Hokage will see you now," the ninja who'd opened it informed him. He couldn't have been older than Yuugi himself, with nut-brown skin and dark brown hair drawn back into a short ponytail, and dressed in what seemed to be the typical shinobi uniform – a dull green vest over black clothes, and an engraved metal plate on a headband tied over his forehead. The only thing that set this man apart from the other people he'd seen hopping across various rooftops was the nasty-looking scar slashing horizontally across his nose and cheekbones.

Yuugi stood up, checking one last time that no magic was clinging to him – Yami had already helped him check outside, but he wasn't taking any chances – and walked forward into what may very well be the last room he ever set eyes on.

He'd been expecting something… fancy, maybe, with ornate furniture and bright banners and possibly racks of weapons, and floor-to-ceiling windows. The only thing that he'd been imagining that he actually got somewhat right were the windows, which started somewhere around waist-height and ended just below the ceiling, granting a fantastic view of the village below and filling the office with light. The rest of the office was surprisingly plain, with hardly a decoration or delicate carving to be seen, and the only furniture in the room a plain, sturdy-looking desk and several wooden, but not too uncomfortable-looking, chairs. There was also what looked like the remains of a mountain of paperwork pushed to one side of the desk, which was almost a piece of furniture by itself.

The Hokage himself looked almost as unassuming as his office. He was an old man, maybe ninety if Yuugi were to guess, with tanned skin dotted with liver spots and a face sporting deep lines and wrinkles, tailor-made for both smiling and scowling. He was sitting quietly in a chair, hands folded before him, and a calm, almost genial look on his face, which seemed quite at odds with his very official-looking red-and-white Hokage robes and hat.

Yuugi was _not_ fooled by the grandfatherly act. Even if he couldn't sense the massive chakra the old man possessed, those eyes were sharp, no-nonsense, and looked at him with the scrutinizing look of one observing a strange creature through a lens. It was unsettling.

The similarly scathing look the younger ninja was aiming at him from the door didn't help matters any, either.

"So," the Hokage said, after a moment of acute observation. "You would be Muto-san?"

Yuugi nodded. "Yes, H-Hokage-sama." The stutter slipped out despite his efforts to suppress it, and he cursed himself silently. _Would an innocent civilian be so nervous right now?_

The Hokage barely reacted to the stutter, his only reaction being for his outer shell of grandfatherly emotion to intensify, and he gestured at one of the chairs. "Please, have a seat." Yuugi accepted the invitation gratefully, sinking into his seat before his legs could give out on him.

He sat there for several minutes, holding himself as still as he could save for an occasional uncomfortable fidget, as the old man looked over several documents that he could only guess were his exam results and the records of the interview with Yamanaka-san.

Just as he was wondering exactly how long he was going to be left sweating here, with a pair of suspicious eyeballs boring holes into the back of his head, the Hokage carefully set down the documents.

"Well, your paperwork appears to be in order," he said. "However, before we fill out your official papers and have your photo ID taken, I would like to ask you a couple of questions."

 _Oh Lord, here we go…_

"Firstly," he continued, still watching the young man like a hawk, "How has your experience been in Konohagakure so far?"

 _He's starting with the easy questions to get me off guard first._ "F-fairly pleasant, apart from the more hostile people I've met here," Yuugi managed. There was no reason to lie – and even if there was, this was the _Hokage_. He wasn't likely to be fooled. "Most of the citizens here have been very polite, and some have been d-downright friendly."

Admittedly, some had been _disturbingly_ friendly. He'd probably be having nightmares about the woman with the dango for weeks. Provided he got out of here alive.

"Well, that's good to know," the Hokage said conversationally. "I trust most of the people who have been giving you trouble are the ones who have a… lack of fondness for a certain child?"

 _Less than –_ Yuugi took a deep breath, all-too aware of the possible weapons that could very well be hidden under every fold of clothing and pointed at him shortly, but unable to keep quiet. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, if all you can say of your people is that they are _less than fond_ of Naruto, then you are obviously _sorely_ misinformed."

The Hokage's eyes narrowed, and he was sure the other shinobi's had as well, from his spot behind him, but neither assassin made any sort of move involving pointy objects, so he'd count that as a victory for now.

"I am well aware of how Naruto is treated." The old man's words were careful, measured. "As the leader of this village, it is my duty to know how my people are faring, and what they are doing, and that unfortunately includes the knowledge of how the villagers and my shinobi treat the boy."

"And you haven't _done_ anything about it?!" The words slipped out before he could stop them, and Yuugi flinched with an undignified squeak as chakra spiked, boiling angrily and flooding the room with the deadly intent of the moment before a lightning strike.

"I may be Hokage," the Hokage said, quiet and calm and somehow murderous without so much as batting an eye or twitching a finger, "but that does not mean that I can, or _should_ , control how my people act, Muto-san. You would do well to remember that."

 _Why did I have to open my big mouth?_ _!_ "O-o-of course, H-Hokage-sama, I'm s-so sorry!"

"Good." One liver-spotted hand smoothed down a crinkled paper on the desk's surface. "That being said, you do bring up a valid point. I may not be able to control or limit my people's thoughts or voices, but I am more than capable of protecting Naruto from _physical_ harm. In fact," and here his calm expression twitched into something approaching annoyance and more than a little suspicion, "up until your arrival, the ANBU guards I had assigned to that duty were doing well. Obviously, as I was unaware of your presence until recently, I was mistaken."

It was all he could do not to freeze, like a deer suddenly caught in bright lights.

 _Naruto has_ _guards?_

 _No no no_ , this wasn't good!

Yuugi had tried to keep the magic-usage to a minimum while he was here, and had been fairly certain that he had managed to keep what little he did use undetected –seeing the shadows and talking to Yami and the rest of the Court left no visible or tangible evidence of magic, and could be overlooked even by the most sensitive of shinobi.

 _I_ _f_ they weren't _looking_ for anything different about him _._ _If_ all they saw was a polite young civilian with odd hair. _If_ they were _civilians._

But if Naruto had _shinobi_ _guards,_ then that was something else entirely. Guards wouldn't have been trained to simply glance over what appeared to be a harmless civilian. Guards would see a harmless civilian and think _possible threat_ , and then pay _very careful attention_ until they decided he was harmless for themselves.

And if any of those watchers were sensitive to the shadows… if any of them were capable of _sensing_ them…

 _Calm down,_ he told himself, before he could begin hyperventilating in terror. _Calm down! He doesn't know. The guards haven't_ _felt_ _anything. They never even reported that I existed! They wouldn't do that if they saw me as a threat. They_ wouldn't, _shinobi are smarter than that!_

Which meant that he was safe. No one had sensed his magic. No one knew he was anything other than a prospective citizen who was usually in the company of the local hated orphan.

 _I'm safe, I'm safe, I'm safe… oh, if only I could believe that!_

With a frown and a slight clearing of his throat, the Hokage leaned forward, drawing Yuugi's attention back to the old man.

"Despite my guards' failings, I have no reason to believe that, at this current time, you are a threat to Naruto's safety." Yuugi nearly collapsed in relief right then and there. "That being said, I have been wrong before." The shinobi leaned forward a fraction, emphasizing his next words with an intimidating stare. "So, Muto-san. Explain to me _why_ I should allow you to remain in Naruto's company, _why_ you are so sympathetic towards him, and why you are willing to put yourself in the villagers' bad graces for him."

Movement, behind him. The other ninja, who had remained more or less still as a statue for this entire unnerving conversation, had shifted position, for all he knew to block the door and stop any escape attempts.

 _I hope I can sound convincing._

He took in a little, shuddering breath. Then another. Then a third.

"I can't tell you that I should be allowed near him." He began uncertainly. "It's still _your_ decision to make, Hokage-sama. But…"

He swallowed, then continued. "I've seen people in situations like that before. I've met orphans who have lost everything, who have nothing. I've seen what they're willing to do to make a life for themselves, when they have nobody to support them but themselves, and how badly that can turn out, and they were _never_ treated nearly so badly as Naruto is. I…"

He drew in another breath, more steadily this time, and drew himself up. "I want to offer him a shoulder to lean on, so that doesn't happen. He already has people looking out for him but… he was so lonely that he was willing to accept a _total stranger's_ offer of friendship, just because I was _nice_ to him. Whoever he already has _isn't enough."_

Several long moments passed. The old man's eyes were narrowed, but not threateningly anymore.

 _He's thinking about it,_ _at least,_ _thank heavens._

"I find it hard to believe that anybody could be that _selfless_."

That had come from behind him. Yuugi turned, glad to finally have a chance to look at the other threat in the room without looking suspicious _._

"I wouldn't call it selfless, shinobi-san," he said meekly. "I just… don't want to see someone else to go through all that, when I could have stopped it."

This earned a disbelieving snort. "Why should we believe that? There's no _way_ you don't have some other motive –"

"Stand down, Iruka," the Hokage interrupted calmly.

The shinobi stopped, face slipping into a muted scowl before smoothing itself into an impassive mask, and Yuugi started. _Iruka? As in –_

"Muto-san." Yuugi whipped back around to face the Hokage quickly, thoughts derailed. "While your story is indeed touching, I'm sure you understand that I cannot simply take your words at face value."

Yuugi nodded, not trusting himself to speak even as his heart took up a jackrabbit rhythm in his chest.

"That being said," and finally, _finally,_ the predatory attentiveness in the old man's eyes lessened to something far less nerve-wracking, "you have yet to cause harm to Naruto, intentionally or otherwise. You have risked the villagers' hostility, apparently for his sake. And for that… I am willing to give you a chance."

 _He's… what?!_

Apparently his words had shocked Iruka-san as well, because the younger ninja immediately piped up in protest, an astonished and incredulous "Hokage-sama, you can't possibly –"

One hand rose up, and the ninja stopped, looking stormy but not daring to disobey the Hokage's silent order.

"I will allow you probationary citizenship for three months," the Hokage continued sternly. "During that time, you may begin your search for a dwelling, work any job that anyone is willing to hire you for, and you may continue spending time with Naruto. However, if I receive word that you mean harm to the village… or to Naruto…"

He trailed off meaningfully, and Yuugi gulped nervously.

"O-of course, Hokage-sama. I-I understand."

"Good. In that case..." The Hokage took possession of his citizenship papers again, as well as several new papers that he pushed across the table to the young man. "Let us properly welcome you to Konohagakure, Yuugi Muto."

* * *

A little over an hour later, when the wild-haired young man had bolted like a frightened hare out of his office with his new paperwork in one hand, Hiruzen sighed, then leaned back in his chair and pulled out his pipe.

So that was Yuugi Muto. It looked as if, for once, the rumor mill had actually been a somewhat reliable source of information, if lacking in details. The youth was certainly polite and seemed to be a truly righteous individual, if his outbursts for Naruto's sake were any indication. He did seem to actually care for the young Jinjurriki, though he had had the wool pulled over his old eyes before. His personal information checked out, as well – some brief questions, intended to sound casually curious, whilst they were filling out paperwork had confirmed all the information previously recorded – either it was all true, or it was a very well-thought-out cover story indeed. A dead grandfather, two parents on the road for country to country… with their son obviously following in their footsteps…

And yet, something didn't feel quite right.

Most civilians were nervous when speaking to shinobi. It was common enough to be expected – a hardened killer rarely got along one hundred percent with the pacifistic merchants and families of normal society, even if that killer was sworn to protect them. Add to that a shinobi's unnerving ability to appear from nowhere without warning, and civilians tended to avoid ninja with the caution of one inching around a sleeping tiger.

But young Muto-san wasn't so much _cautious_ around shinobi as he was _terrified._ There had been tension in every line of his body, every muscle ready to jump up and flee for his life.

And when Hiruzen's own chakra had surged up in response to his anger, Muto had _flinched._ It was a tiny movement, hardly noticeable, but still there nonetheless.

 _A latent chakra-sensing ability, perhaps? He never mentioned such things passing through his family lines, but many civilians are often capable of using their chakra in such a way._

Regardless of what it might be, there was something about Muto that was more than a little off.

"Iruka."

The young teacher, still lingering by the door at his request, stood to attention.

"I will be changing the guards on Naruto and giving them strict instructions to pay close attention to his interactions with Yuugi-san."

Iruka's shoulders relaxed subtly, and Hiruzen let a small smile creep onto his face.

"You need not worry for Naruto's safety. I _will_ make certain he is unharmed. That being said, if you wish to keep an eye on him…"

Hiruzen paused, glancing at the young man to make certain he understood.

He did. He didn't need to speak a word to show it.

"I'm sure you have papers to grade, Iruka?"

The casual dismissal was heeded immediately, a blur of shinobi disappearing out the door.

An amused noise escaped him, and he took a puff from his pipe. Once several smoke rings had been expelled, he leaned forward again.

He had no intentions of allowing Muto to go unsupervised quite yet. With that in mind, he reached for pen and paper.

* * *

 _To_ _Jōnin_ _Commander Shikaku Nara_

 _A suspicious individual has been seen in the company of Naruto Uzumaki. He claims to be a civilian, and though so far he has not proven to be a threat, it is preferable to be cautious._

 _Please assign one Yuugi Muto an escort as soon as possible._ _Be certain to watch for suspicious behavior that could be harmful to Uzumaki or the village._

 _The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi._


End file.
